Introduction
My research concentrates on global governance and survey methods. Through my work, I aim to find out how people want the world to be governed, and to help other scholars conduct better public opinion research. Before joining Queen’s, I held postdoctoral fellowships at the universities of Lund and Maastricht. A former management consultant at Bain & Company, I also worked at the German Foreign Ministry, for the President of the European Parliament, and at the United Nations headquarters in New York. I hold a DPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford, an MA in Global Affairs from Yale University, and a BSc in Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
Teaching
I have developed and taught various quantitative and qualitative courses. In 2024, I taught the Oxford summer school on “Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE): Globalisation, populism, and identity”. In Oxford, I taught Political Analysis (Q-Step) II – an intermediary course on quantitative methods. In Maastricht, I taught introductory courses on quantitative methods and International Relations. For the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung), I developed and taught a summer academy on the theory, empirics, and practice of global democracy.
Research
My two main research areas are global governance and survey methods.
During my JRF, I am working on a monograph and various articles relating to world public opinion on international organizations, global governance reforms, and long-term visions like global democracy. To this end, I use survey experiments to understand international public attitudes and explore the conditions under which people’s views may change.
In the area of survey methods, I am working on various papers addressing methodological questions that affect survey researchers in many academic disciplines. I particularly focus on the design of answer choices, e.g. the ideal length of answer choice scales, the conditions under which a middle option should be included (or not), and the use of no-opinion (“I don’t know”) responses.
Publications
Published research (peer-reviewed):
- 2024: Who on earth wants a world government, what kind, and why? An international survey experiment (with Markus Pauli). International Studies Quarterly. Volume 68. Issue 3.
- 2024: Perceptions of a global democratic deficit: An international survey experiment. Perspectives on Politics.
- 2024: Are more authoritative international organizations challenged more? A recurrent event analysis of member state criticisms and withdrawals (with Hylke Dijkstra). The Review of International Organizations.
- 2024: Effects of self-legitimation and delegitimation on public attitudes toward international organizations: A worldwide survey experiment. International Studies Quarterly. Volume 68. Issue 2.
- 2022:Public opinion on institutional designs for the United Nations: An international survey experiment (with Mathias Koenig-Archibugi and Luis Cabrera). International Studies Quarterly. Volume 66. Issue 3. September 2022.
- 2022:The politics of (de)legitimation in global governance: A theoretical framework (with Magdalena Bexell, Karin Bäckstrand, Catia Gregoratti, Kristina Jönsson, Fredrik Söderbaum, Nora Stappert, and Anders Uhlin). In The politics of (de)legitimation in global governance: Practices, justifications, and audiences. Edited by Magdalena Bexell, Kristina Jönsson, and Anders Uhlin. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
- 2022: Audiences of (de)legitimation in global governance: A comparative overview (with Magdalena Bexell and Soetkin Verhaegen). In The politics of (de)legitimation in global governance: Practices, justifications, and audiences. Edited by Magdalena Bexell, Kristina Jönsson, and Anders Uhlin. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
- 2022:The effects of (de)legitimation on citizens’ belief in global governance: A worldwide survey experiment. In The politics of (de)legitimation in global governance: Practices, justifications, and audiences. Edited by Magdalena Bexell, Kristina Jönsson, and Anders Uhlin. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
- 2021:Who on earth wants global democracy – and why (not)? A theoretical and experimental study of international public opinion. Doctoral thesis. Oxford, UK: University of Oxford.
Selected popular science and magazine articles:
- 2024: New Oxford/Dublin research: Public majorities worldwide support a democratic world government focused on global issues (with Markus Pauli). EJIL:Talk! Blog of the European Journal of International Law. October 4.
- 2024: Citizens worldwide (including Australia) support a democratic world government focused on global issues (with Markus Pauli). Australian Outlook. October 2.
- 2024: Is it time for a democratic world government to address global challenges? (with Markus Pauli). South China Morning Post. September 28.
- 2024: Our research has found vast public support for a democratic global government (with Markus Pauli). The Journal. September 27.
- 2024: New research: Citizens worldwide support democratic global government (with Markus Pauli). Democracy Without Borders, September 9.
- 2024: Global citizens’ assemblies: Expanding the global democracy agenda (with Andreas Bummel). Democracy Without Borders, February 21.
- 2022: Global citizens want a stronger and more democratic United Nations (with Mathias Koenig-Archibugi and Luis Cabrera). The Washington Post, Monkey Cage. November 4.
- 2022: International survey: Citizens want a stronger and more democratic UN. Citizens for Global Solutions. September 27.
- 2022: Calls by Zelensky and Biden for UN reform are supported by people around the world – new survey. The Conversation. September 22.
- 2022: International survey: Citizens want a stronger and more democratic UN. Democracy Without Borders. September 22.
- 2022: Citizens worldwide want a stronger and more democratic UN: Findings from an international survey by Oxford, LSE, and Griffith researchers. OxPol: The blog of the University of Oxford’s Department of Politics and International Relations. September 21.
- 2021: Mehr (globale) Demokratie wagen [Daring more (global) democracy]. Frankfurter Rundschau. September 17.
- 2021: Study: Majorities support global democracy, political parties can benefit. Democracy Without Borders. September 2.
- 2017: Eine Welt, ein Parlament? [One world, one parliament?], Internationale Politik, Sonderbeilage Mercator Kolleg 2016, pp. 16-17, January/February
- 2015: The proposal of a UN parliament: The idea, its supporters, and possible ways of implementation, Diplomatisches Magazin, pp. 42-43, December.